Disposable needles and syringes are routinely used in hospitals and other medical facilities for drawing blood and other body fluids from patients, administering medications, and the like. For health and safety reasons, and, as required by law in most jurisdictions, these disposable needles must be properly disposed of after use to prevent inadvertent reuse, accidental injury and possible exposure to transmittable diseases, such as Hepatitis and AIDS. Presently, needles are directly transferred, completely intact and without capping, to collection containers for disposal by incineration, or the like. In all cases, from the time the needle is used, to the time that it is destroyed, medical personnel and clean-up crews are constantly at risk for accidental needle sticks. In the use of these needles, there is always a risk of inadvertent needle stick to the medical personnel handling the device. Once the needle has been deposited into the appropriate collection receptacle, higher risk exists for individuals responsible for ultimate disposal. As the container is filled, exposed needles often protrude through the container opening. Therefore, any individual placing needles in this container risks getting stuck with the contaminated needles.
Traditional needle systems have always been a health hazard risk to our medical personnel. Diseases such as Hepatitis and AIDS have brought to our attention the need to develop devices to better protect our medical personnel from these risks.
Although a number of solutions to this problem have been proposed, there remains a need in the art for a more reliable system to reduce the possibility of inadvertent reuse and safe destruction of disposable needle systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,491 to Champ, issued May 1, 1990, discloses one such system wherein a separate container of disinfectant is provided for use with each disposable needle. Although this prior art system appears practical and functional in operation, the cost of manufacture, and the inconvenience of using a separate container, have hindered full acceptance thereof at the present time. The present invention employs some of the advantageous features of this prior art system while minimizing the disadvantages thereof.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved disposable needle structure to facilitate safe disposal thereof.
Another object of the present invention is a disposable needle system that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, reliable in operation, and safely disposable to minimize accidental danger to anyone subsequently handling the needle after use.
A further object of the present invention is a new and novel disposable needle structure.
An additional object of the present invention is a disposable needle system that reduces the chance for accidental needle stick injury to the user of the system.